


After love, before marriage

by queenofchildren



Category: Still Star-Crossed (TV)
Genre: Benvolio plots, F/M, Missing Scene, Or rather just after the pilot ends, not really romantic yet on the rosvolio front, which is not his usual style
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-01
Updated: 2017-06-03
Packaged: 2018-11-07 21:09:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11067189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenofchildren/pseuds/queenofchildren
Summary: In a chapel at the palace, we left our heroes at a crossroads - and at the brink of scandal. What they do next will decide the course of their lives. And that's when Benvolio makes a decision.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> We need to write some fic for this show, pronto.

Benvolio was a hothead, a true and pure example of the sanguine temperament, and it had got him in trouble more than once. But tonight, he vowed to himself, tonight he would be calm. He’d keep his head, and come out of things on top for once.

That’s what he told himself as he made his way down the stairs and into the chapel, briskly but not so fast as to be running.

When he reached the chapel, the two lovers were still standing as they had been when he caught them, as if trying to make time stop by simply refusing to move. For a long moment, there was silence in the vaulted chamber, broken only when the churchbells began to ring nearby.

The sound seemed to spur them all back into action, but surprisingly, it was the least likely person who spoke first.

“What now, Sir?“ Rosaline called out to him, her voice echoing in the empty chapel. “Have you come to call me a harlot too, like your family has slandered my cousin?“

For a moment, he was taken aback. The girl had spirit, he had seen plenty of that on the few occasions they had met before. But he had not expected this audacity, this brazen defiance in the face of a situation so grave and scandalous, it would leave any other woman trembling in fear and shame.

But then, she wasn’t any other woman.

“I’ve come to find out what ails my bride. Now I see it was a broken heart.“

It was risky, confirming to her and the Prince just how much he had witnessed of their little moment. But with a woman as shrewd as her, trying to play coy was even riskier.

“Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me.“ He watched as she took in this information, her furrowed brow indicating her mistrust, just as he had expected. He left her alone to do with the promise as she pleased and turned to the Prince instead. “My liege, I am, as ever, your humble servant. If you still wish me to go through with this marriage, I will.“

It was hard to tell who was more surprised by his declaration, Escalus or Rosaline. But Benvolio had only one of them to impress for the other to fall in line, and he knew what would impress the Prince: devotion to his city – and a promise to be good to the woman he loved.

“I will ask my uncle to help us get settled in a house in town. As soon as it’s done, we can marry, and bring peace to this bleeding city.“

It was strange to be so calculating when usually, Benvolio made decisions at the drop of a hat, based only on what would most please himself and the ones he cared about. But with both Romeo and Mercutio dead, there were not many of those left. He had to look after himself, and this was the way to do it. Marrying a penniless, debased servant girl would have been a humiliation no matter her blood. Marrying the woman who had the Prince’s heart and, hopefully, his ear – that was another matter entirely.

He felt guilty about planning such machinations for only a short moment when he made the mistake of looking at her briefly, and promptly got drawn in by those eyes again, deep and bright and wounded. For all his faults, Benvolio did not enjoy cruelty – had, in fact, never been as hard or as cunning as his uncle had wanted him to be. But now, he would get a chance to prove his uncle wrong – and break free of him at the same time. If he could not marry for love, he’d marry for power, but not in the way the head of house Montague wished him to. It was his _own_ power he would seek, his _own_ independence. And Rosaline would be his key to freedom.

And if he ever felt unease at the thought of using her for his own means again, he would only need to remember their encounter in the streets, when he had saved her life and received nothing but scorn in return. _“If you’d killed Tybalt yourself…“_ \- those had been her words to him, their implication clear: This was a woman who wished him dead. He would profit of her connection to the royal family as long as necessary to gain his independence, and then she could rot for all he cared.

“I’ve wronged you before, my Lady. I’ve wronged your family too, and have been wronged by them in turn. But I’m willing to move past all of that if you are willing to do the same. What do you say – will you help me try and save our city, in honour of our beloved cousins?“

And just as his offer was based on selfishness, he knew, could _see_ , how in her, selfishness reared its head and was wrestled down. When she accepted, it was self-abnegation – it was her giving up the man she loved to marry one she hated, for the sake of her city.

“I will.“

There, Benvolio thought to himself, making plans was actually easy - and this one was already going well.

He had no idea what was coming.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well look at that, there was a little bit more left to write here, this time from Rosaline's point of view.

“ _I’ve wronged you before, my Lady. I’ve wronged your family too, and have been wronged by them in turn. But I’m willing to move past all of that if you are willing to do the same. What do you say – will you help me try and save our city, in honour of our beloved cousins?“_

Rosaline could not believe what she was hearing. After everything that had happened these past days – days that had made her begin to think that perhaps she was being punished for every little sin she'd ever committed, every unkind thought she had ever harboured towards her aunt and uncle – after all that incredible loss and tragedy and, most recently, that fleeting moment of stolen bliss, the strangest thing to happen was surely that _Benvolio Montague_ had just agreed to marry her.

For what reasons, she could not fathom quite yet, though she was sure it would be in her own best interest to find out. But first, Rosaline needed to reach a decision on what _she_ would do – and that was easier thought than done.

Instinct told her to be mistrustful of any plan that involved a Montague, and the memory of her parents' death made the mere idea of aligning herself with that family unbearable. Her heart burned at the thought of being cast off on another man when the one she had loved, and had mourned so deeply when they were torn apart, was still unwed, still cared for her – but then, it was _his_ wish that she should marry another, his command even.

No, her heart would provide no answer to this conundrum. She'd have to turn to her head instead, a more reliable advisor in any case.

The marriage would thrust her from the fringes of Verona's society to its very heart, and to the heart of the conflict that threatened to tear the city apart. It would no doubt make her a target for those who had more to gain from this constant state of unrest than from the peace the union was supposed to bring. But it might also provide her with the very freedom she'd longed for so deeply. It would mean moving out of Lady Capulet's house, and becoming mistress of her own household. It would mean being restored as a member, an _heiress_ of house Capulet – and as such, would make it much easier for her sister to attract the wealthy husband she so wished for.

If Rosaline was not to be granted happiness, she could at least help her sister achieve it.

With her decision made, her voice was steady when she announced it.

“I will.“

She could practically feel the relief radiate from the two men standing on either side of her – although in both, there was an undercurrent of resignation to it that she would have found insulting, had she not felt the same way.

Rosaline had to admit, in those few silly moments when she had indeed thought about accepting a proposal of marriage instead of taking her vows, she had, perhaps foolishly, assumed that by agreeing she would bring joy to all involved. But no one in the room right now seemed particularly joyful at the prospect – only grim and sober, and determined to see this madness through for the sake of their city.

Oddly, it was this that made her feel a little better: Seeing Benvolio's expression and knowing for sure it mirrored hers in that moment. They were both entering a fight with incredibly bad odds, but for better or worse, they were on the same side going forward. It was a knowledge she should have seen, should have made use of much earlier. After all, Benvolio had been just as skeptical as her about Juliet and Romeo's wedding, and had seemed delighted to find that she agreed. But by then, she had been chafing too much at being called a servant to be able to accept him as the valuable ally he could have been. Pride had stood in her way then and clouded her judgment – she would not make that same mistake again.

Still, despite the rational advantages she could see in the match, the thought still seemed ridiculous. A Montague and a Capulet, side by side?

Rosaline swallowed a hysterical laugh and focused on bringing clarity to her clouded mind instead, which was still in uproar over what had just transpired. Escalus had held her, _kissed_ her, told her how much he cared about her – and yet, now kept quiet as she agreed to wed another man. On the very night she had, in some manner, got the man she had once loved back, she was to lose him again.

She'd make sure it would not be for nothing.

“But I have conditions.“ She paused only long enough to let her words ring through the chapel and lend them the gravity they needed, but not long enough for either man to object. “I will be restored a Capulet immediately, and so will my sister. We will be treated with the respect that has been denied us both since our parents' death. And if anything happens to me, which I am sure is not out of the question now that I am to be bound to a _Montague_ ,“ she laid as much scorn as she could into the name, telling herself it was just to see the irked little twitch on Benvolio's face and not because the mere thought of carrying that wretched name made her want to cry and rage, “if any harm should befall me, my sister is to have the full protection of _both_ families.“

Escalus nodded, though much too hesitantly for her taste. “The Lords Capulet and Montague will have to agree to this...“

She cut him off, way beyond caring about the proper deference to his status.

“Then _make_ them. You are their liege, are you not?“ And before Escalus could decide that such a tone could not be taken with him, not even by the woman he had once claimed to love, Rosaline quickly blurted out her last condition. “And when it comes to the matter of my sister's marriage, it will be to a man of her own choosing. A man she _loves_.“ She looked at Escalus when she said it, but he averted his eyes and Rosaline moved hers on to the other man in the room – only to find, to her surprise, that Benvolio did not shy away from her gaze but met it straight on, with a softness on his face that she did not expect.

She quickly tore her eyes off him and fixed them on Escalus once more.

“Those are my terms. Accept them, and you will have the union you are so convinced will bring peace to this city. Force this marriage without giving me what I want in turn, and the Montague family will have another dead Capulet maiden at their hands.“

There was a startled gasp from Benvolio's direction, which she ignored, too focused on the Prince. The pain on Escalus' face was at the same time hard to watch and a balm to her soul, and part of her wished her threat would make him go back on his order and call the whole thing off.

Instead, his lips tightened as his face turned back into its regal mask.

“Very well. I'll see to it that your sister will have every advantage going forward.“

“Then I have no further objections.“

None except those brought forward by her heart - but who had the luxury of listening to their heart in these troubled times?

 

 


End file.
